Magnetic tape configured to be employed for magnetic recording is typically formed into lengths by slitting a much wider web of tape into thin strips, such as “half-inch” magnetic tape. A length of the slit magnetic tape is typically wound onto one or two reels of a magnetic tape cartridge.
The slitting process typically comprises a shear cut process similar to the cutting action that is used with a pair of scissors, and typically employs pairs of rotating blades, one of the pair of either side of the web. Slitting parameters which may affect the quality of the slit edge may include: web feed speed, rotating blade speed, sharpness of the rotating blades, uniformity of blade sharpness, angle of convergence of the pair of rotating blades, properties of the web material, and axial tension of the web.
Care is taken in the slitting process to make sure that the slit magnetic tape is not damaged. Undamaged magnetic tape typically still produces debris under edge contact, for example, when the edge contacts a flange.
Flanged guide rollers are used in a tape path to constrain the tape laterally. Especially in “half-inch” magnetic tape drives, which typically write and read digital data, the flanged guide rollers limit the “LTM” (lateral tape motion) of magnetic tape to levels that allow adequate track following by a servoed tape head and to limit the skew of the magnetic tape as it passes over the tape head.